A genetic analysis of the mandible and maxilla in the rat
Atchley, W.R.
Journal of Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology 3(4): 409-422
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0270-4145 PMID: 6662910 Document Number: 218203
Nine measurements of the mandible and maxilla, and femur length, were recorded on 530 rats at 189 days of age. Half the rats in each litter of origin were reciprocally cross-fostered between unrelated dams, and genetic parameters were estimated from the covariance of full sibs reared apart. The hsuperscript 2s ranged from 0.29+or-0.08 (mandible width) to 0.68+or-0.09 (posterior palatal width). Genetic correlations among traits, and allometric coefficients (partitioned into phenotypic, genetic, maternal and environmental components), are tabulated. The matrices of phenotypic, genetic and environmental correlations were subjected to a principal component analysis. For the genetic correlations, the first 3 components explained 41.3, 31.4 and 16.1% of the total variation resp. The first components was a general size vector, and the other 2 contrasted measurements.